Turkey Day

Instead of visiting our families for Thanksgiving, we decided to visit James.

One of the highlights of the trip was the delicious turkey dinner James and Christa cooked up. It was delicious. James graciously bought Daorcey a tofurkey and thus a vegetarian was able to participate in the carving of a faux-meat product.

Here are some photos.

Luckily James' cookbook provided instructions to carve a turkey. I think that cookbook helped with every dish James had to cook this fine meal.

No instructions required here.

The carcass. There's no such thing as off the record.

While James and Christa were slaving away in a kitchen, we scampered about Granville Island. We found penguin puppets. Also outside the Emily Carr Institute was an adult-sized seesaw.

It's a Thanksgiving miracle. A picture with Daorcey's eyes open.

Sadly, a real penguin would not be this accommodating.

Don't let the fiberglass exterior fool you. I had to protect Daorcey from this bear.

No thinking required

Being a non-Conservative voter in Calgary means you don't have to think at election time.

Really. The MP could be, say Rob Anders, and they're still elected. I've almost started thinking of my vote not as a vote for an MP but which party best deserves $1.95. As of this moment, each party receives money based on how many votes they collected, although the government might remove that.

Visiting James in Vancouver during the election drove home how lazy us non-Conservative voters are in Calgary. James faced a real dilemma in his riding.

He had two choices:

• Vote for the Green Party candidate, a person who would represent the riding well and represented the Greens' best hope to elect an MP.
  
• Or vote strategically and unenthusiastically for the Liberal candidate to avoid a Conservative majority.

Not much of a choice, in my opinion.

I think the only time I ever faced a real decision was during a university student government election. I voted for the safe candidate instead of who I really wanted. Not only did I deprive myself of giving my vote to someone who I thought deserved to win, but also a really interesting year for the News Editor.

Anyways, here are some non-Harper images we found in Vancouver.



According to Daorcey, the Danny in "Go Danny Go" is a reference to Danny Williams, Newfoundland premier.

A late Obama post

I'm sure you've all seen the now iconic Obama Hope/Progress poster.

I was hoping when we went to Seattle we would see some election material. We spotted the Obama poster at a tiny coffee shop in Seattle. I love that it's beside a Bobby Kennedy poster.

And if you haven't read Newsweek's behind the scenes account of the election, go now. It's ridiculous how much the reporters' were allowed to see and report.

"American money smells funny"

Of all the things we did at PAX, meeting Wil Wheaton was probably the only one that met our expectations.

Watching Next Generation, I did not have a crush on him. So I didn't think I'd be overwhelmed. I really enjoy his blog and he seems normal.

Wil did a book signing the day before his one-man panel (how does one person be a panel? He's kinda awesome that way). I had left Daorcey behind at the Penny Arcade Q&A. As I waited in line I realized Daorcey had no idea where I was and had to leave to find him. Luckily the couple in front of him saved my spot, or so I hoped as I left.

Found Daorcey and found my spot was also saved. I bought Wil's chapbook for the couple who saved my spot as a thank you which Wil said "was sweet."

I'm giving the impression here that I was a smooth operator when I met him and I was not. We go up to him and all I can say is "Hi..." That's it. Just several ellipsises full of silence. Daorcey jumps in and asks Wil about his various books for sale and I think Wil is relieved I'm not going to just stand there and stare at him. When I finally mention I would to purchase a book I blurt out "American money smells funny. Canadian money doesn't smell." I don't think Wil found it too odd but replied that Canadian money smells like good government and health care.

So about for two hours later I berated myself for acting like a dork. Especially since there was a ready made topic to talk about: his velvet painting of Wesley Crusher paid for by one of my favourite authors. But there's always PAX 2009.

What's the message?

It's been a somber day in Canada as many of us observe Remembrance Day on the 90th anniversary of the armistice of the Great War. I was fortunate to have the day off and spent the morning at The Military Museums with 10,000 other people as part of the Remembrance Day ceremonies.

There are a few posts on this blog about past wars and the nature of war today. This fits in with it.

Throughout today's ceremony, I was struck by seemingly central message to the surrounding crowds about the reasons for war: these soldier's died so that we may enjoy freedom, democracy, security, etc.

It's not a particularly surprising message. In fact, I'm sure many of us would say it's something we've heard many times before. "The fought and died for us..."

Now, I'm not intending to be disrespectful toward those who serve in our military, but I just don't buy it. But, why shouldn't I? If this message has been around so long, why doesn't it resonate with me? Not only does it not resonate with me... this message also makes me uncomfortable. I'd say it even rings hollow when I hear it.

Does it bother you?

The communicator in me thinks that the message about the protection of our liberties is an old one meant for a different audience perhaps 30 years ago. It is a message meant for persuading a populace that their military is needed because "the hun" (whoever they may be) is at our door. Any military action at home or abroad is meant to truly protect us from certain destruction.

That just isn't the case any more for today's Canadian citizen. Or, then again, maybe I'm wrong... maybe Canadians are worried that Al Qaeda is just waiting to take over our country... maybe they are concerned that a Taliban-run Afghanistan is a serious threat to our democracy, freedom, existence, etc.

But for me, that just doesn't seem realistic. And so the messages I heard today at the Remembrance Day ceremonies worn... they couldn't hold up to how I see the world and our role in it. Instead, throughout the hour-long ceremony, I found myself silently rephrasing the reasons for war--re-articulating our military raison d'etre.

Military action, for me, is about protecting the human rights of those who are at risk. It is about stopping/preventing genocide. It is about ensuring an international standard of humanity and equality.

I have Romeo Dallaire to thank for that one.

But does anyone else out there see it that way? My government representatives seem confused because their messaging seems to move back and forth. But, as soon as you suggest we have soldiers in Afghanistan to protect my way of life, I get suspicious.

Is it because the protection of other people isn't enough to get a populace to support it's military? Is it easier to gain political points by saying it's about protecting ourselves?

I'd like to think we're more humanistic than that. I'd like to think the protection of human rights (including the right to exist) is more important than that... even if it isn't our own human rights we're protecting.

So, the next time my elected official makes that argument, I'm with them. Until that, I'll just assume they're not speaking to me.

Overheard while playing Fallout 3

"I'm going to eat your arms... when you're dead!"

"... and that's how you get to llama school."

Quick no-car update

We're waiting for the #2 by Crowchild Trail to take us home.
Conclusion: transit is super convenient when you have a planned route
to your destination ( as we had for out trip to visit a friend at the
hospital today), but it's not as great on a Sunday when you're waiting
for that connection that only comes on the half hour.

Fortunately, the weather is nice and we don't have anywhere to be
(except for the post-apocalyptic wastelands is Washington DC).

Still, we're thinking the no-car lifestyle remains doable. Transit is
working, we have only had need of a car a few times, and cabs are
always an option (which we haven't been taking since we might as well
use our car if we have it--something we've only done twice).

I was pleased to find out that a co-worker of mine hasn't had a car for
a few years and she lives in our neighbourhood. Interesting...

Is that the bus I see?

Sent from my iPod

By the power of blogskull!

It seems I have the power to blog on the run with fancy updates via
email. And, now that I have the power of the iPod touch, I can do it
anywhere there's wifi. Cool, eh?

The only assumption is that I'll have something to say.

I get paid to write, yet...

The curry is cooking and Natalie is on song three of a six song "hard" challenge on Rock Band 2. She's rather pleased with her mad skillz...

I have a Facebook account and a MySpace account and I'm beginning to think I could really care less about them. I really don't have the time or energy to devote to them. Nor do I particularly care to do so.

But it's funny that nearly every other day, I lament the fact that I have seriously neglected the blog. I has been more than a few times when I mention that I miss the old days when I was inspired to write a couple of times a week. And it's not that I don't have anything more to say, it's just that I seem to be that much busier writing material for which I get paid. I think there's some irony in there somewhere...

I miss the blog.

I miss expressing myself in random ways. I miss spending two hours thinking of the most effective way to share a certain thought whether it be humourous, serious or banal. I miss conversations via comments.

Through work, I hear about the evolution of the webz and that what was in just a few years ago (say, around the time of our wedding) is moving on. I should be twittering, not devoting thought to a long and boring post. And that trend makes me wonder if this is what it's like for me to get old... Am I yearning for a comfortable medium when I should be switching it up and running with the pack? Am I about to start yelling at the kids to get off my lawn while I plug away at a blog post about yesterday's news? Sigh... the things that concern me...

I'll get over it soon enough. And I'm hoping it'll mean I'll be back to DarNat more often. I mean, I have thoughts and stories and useless information to share. And there's this whole thing about not driving, which is into it's third month. There's news to be shared with the... zero people who check this little space of the online world.

You know, once I had google analytics on this site and I was so enthralled that we had readers in China, Australia and Texas.... ah, how things have changed.

This has been cathartic. See you again soon... after Natalie and I play some more Fallout 3.